Frozen Blog Party: The Questions

Ah, after a long day of art classes, there's nothing like sitting in the living room, watching a brand new Disney Blu-ray ("Frozen", of course) with my girls. :)  We had a great time watching it earlier this evening. :)  I'll be doing a review of the Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack later in the week as part of the blog party.

For now, though, I'd like to get the blog party questions up.  This is a fun activity open to anyone who would like to participate.  Those of you who decide to answer the questions, please leave a comment on this post with a link to your answers on your blog or other online site.  A big part of the fun is getting to read all of the different answers to the questions and making new friends. ;)

If you don't have a blog or a website of your own but would like to participate, feel free to leave your answers in the comments below. :)   


   1. Who is your favorite Frozen character (or characters) and why?
   
   2. Which is your favorite Frozen song (or songs) and why?
   
   3. If you could make one change to the movie, what would it be?
   
   4. Would you want to see a Frozen sequel?  What would you want it to be about?
   
   5.  Ice Palace or Arendelle Castle?
   
   6.  If you could choose a sidekick from the movie, would you choose Sven or Olaf?  Why?
   
   7.  Do you think all men pick their noses, as Kristoff claimed?
   
   8. Which Frozen character is the most like you (or the one you relate to most) and why? 
   
   9.  How many times have you seen Frozen so far?

  10.  In keeping with my overall blog theme, ;) which of the Frozen dolls that have been released is your favorite?  (e.g. the Disney Store fashion dolls, Disney Store Disney Animator's Collection and Toddler dolls, Limited Edition Disney Store dolls, Mattel dolls, etc)

I hope you have fun answering the questions.  If you'd like to just choose a few instead of doing all ten, feel free to do so...I know it can be overwhelming to do that many questions sometimes. :}

Stay tuned for my blog party giveaway post, coming up next! :)                  

Announcing Never Grow Up's "Frozen" Blog Party!!

Hey everyone!  Sorry you haven't heard from me all weekend.  Things have been busy and I've had a lot of computer issues.  I'm still fighting with my desktop daily, but I'm going ahead with the blog party as planned.

Also, a huge thank you to the three of you who nominated me for the Liebster Award.  I'm hoping to get to those questions soon, but I wanted to go ahead with my plans for the week while I had the chance! :)

I'm very excited to announce that today is the official beginning of Never Grow Up's Frozen-themed blog party!!  We're starting today in celebration of Frozen's release on Blu-ray and DVD, which I will be buying later this afternoon. :D  I have a great week planned, including giveaways, questions to fill out, and posts in keeping with the theme! :)

For starters, I thought I'd share a mini tutorial of my fan art I drew for my header:

 

I started with some Frozen Valentines and a very rough sketch...  

 ...then started filling in the details, slowly but surely.  

 

I was thrilled with how Elsa turned out! :D 

 Here she is next to the Valentine I used as a reference.

 

I erased my temporary features from my rough sketch of Anna and then started again.

 

I was pretty pleased with how she turned out, too.

 

I changed the position of her pupils because I wanted her looking at Elsa in my drawing.  Anna's head angle was a rather difficult angle to replicate.  I definitely found it more challenging than Elsa.

 

Here's the finished sketch...

 

...and then a closer look.

 

As always, I did the "backwards test" (looking at the picture backwards against the light).  They still looked pretty good, so I knew I hadn't done too badly with my proportions. ;)

 

I recently purchased a set of art pens at Michael's which I have been thoroughly enjoying. :)  Here's the one I used to trace Anna and Elsa.

 

Here they are, all traced and ready to be cleaned up with an eraser.

 

I was a bit disappointed with Anna's mouth and nose, and I also ended up giving her an extra chin line.  My problem was I doubted myself and changed her look while I was tracing (not usually an advisable thing to do).  I knew I'd have to work that into the shading somehow so I wouldn't make her look too odd. :}

 

And here they are with all of the pencil erased.

 

A closer look again.

 I ended up using a combination of colored pencil and markers this time around, basically because I didn't have the right skin tones for the girls in my markers.

 I also liked using the colored pencils to give Elsa's eye makeup and facial features a softer look. 

Her hair was a bit tricky, but I finally decided on using a tan-colored marker and a blue colored pencil.  I think it worked out just right. :)

 Even after adding color, I was still disappointed with the way Anna turned out.  Between my flub on her chin and messing up her lips, she just didn't come out quite the way I had hoped.  I almost wish I'd kept her as a pencil sketch...I liked her much better before I traced her.  Oh well, live and learn. ;)  This is only the second time I've drawn Anna, so I'll figure her out eventually. ;)

 

It was really fun playing around on Ribbet.com with all of the special effects and such.  I'm quite pleased with the way the header turned out, and I can't wait to try out more Frozen fan art! ;)

And while we're on the subject of art, I have to head out to my art class, but stay tuned for more fun!  I'll be announcing the giveaways and putting up party questions within the next day or so, and I will also have a blog button for the party up as soon as I possibly can.

Talk to all of you again soon! :)

 

As always, here's a copy of my previous header. ;)

Zelfs Series 2 Review! :D

Last week, my mom and dad went on an out-of-town trip for a couple of days.  While there, my mom stopped by a Toys R Us and found several of the new Series 2 Zelfs! :D  She bought them and allowed me to open and review them.  (My evil influence continues!) ;)

Here are all of the Zelfs in their packages.  It was like getting a really early Christmas present! ;)

First up, we have Snap Jack, the Jack Frost Zelf.  Because of my current obsession with Frozen, this guy was at the top of my wish list.  Mom let me keep him for my own collection. :)

Snap Jack's Package Art

The back of the package features some of the other new Zelfies. :)

This time around, the rare Zelf is Jewely.  Like Miss Clover, she will be super hard to find.

 

Before going on, I thought I would do a comparison of the differences between Series 1 and Series 2 packaging.  Mermalade, on the left, is from Series 1, and Snap Jack is from Series 2.

The plastic "bubble", for lack of a better word, on the Series 1 packaging has a more gradual slope at the top and sticks out evenly all across the front.

The Series 2 bubble goes in closer to the packaging in the section that houses the accessories.  

It also has little raised sparkle marks on the plastic.  My mom found these really helpful, as she is not as familiar with the Zelf line as I am.  All she had to do was feel the front of the package to see if it was a new one. :)

This pamphlet guide to all of the new Zelfs was included in the package with Snap Jack.  (Sorry the picture is a bit fuzzy.) :{

A closer look at the different Zelfs and their personalities:

The other side of the pamphlet has a map of Zardenia, home of the Zelfs.

Snap Jack came with a blue plastic comb, three elastic hair bands, an an adorable snowflake charm.

The Zelfs are held in with a rubber band that holds them in place.  

They are also held in place by plastic pieces across their hair (sorry it's a different Zelf...I forgot to get a picture of Snap Jack's hair). :}

Here is Snap Jack with his accessories. :)

Snap Jack from the back.

I love the snowflake details on his back and arm.

Snap Jack has the same face mold as Buttershy.  (For more pictures of some of the different face molds, you can read my earlier post HERE...you'll have to scroll to the bottom).

Snap Jack in profile.

Because of Snap Jack's frosty theme, I just had to take a few pictures of him with my Disney Store Elsa doll. :)

Goofin' around...

Elsa thinks Snap Jack is adorable. ;)

Okay, on to Flitter, the Dragon Fly Zelf. :)

Package Art

I didn't take pictures of the backs of the other new Zelfs' packages since they were all the same. :)

Flitter out of his package.  He comes with the same pamphlet and elastic hair bands, a blue comb, and a dragonfly charm.

Back view

I love the detail on his glittery wings. :)

A closer look at his paint details.

Flitter has the Elfa/Miss Clover mold.

Flitter in profile.

Next up is adorable Lochlan, the Loch Ness Monster Zelf.

Package Art 

Lochlan comes with the same pamphlet and hair elastics, a green comb, and a Loch Ness Monster charm.

Back view

One thing I love about Lochlan is his movable tail, which can rotate in a complete circle. 

Some of Lochlan's paint details.

Lochlan also appears to have the Elfa/Miss Clover mold, but with added horns (I think that's what you'd call those). ;)  UPDATE: One of my readers pointed out that Lochlan's eyes and moth are slightly different than Elfa's, so she does not have the same face mold.  I also noticed some variation in the ears.  It appears Lochlan has a unique face mold. :)

Lochlan in profile

Next up is adorable Birchy, the Tree Zelf.

Package Art

Birchy comes with the pamphlet and hair elastics, a light green comb, and a tree charm.

Back view

I love the nifty artwork on Birchy's tummy, and his legs even have a wood grain pattern painted on them. :)  Birchy looks quite Narnian to me, almost a combination of Mr. Tumnus and a Dryad. ;)  (Although I think Dryads were girls.)  

Birchy's face.  More on his mold in a bit...

Birchy in profile.

I thought at first that Birchy was another Elfa mold, but when I compared him with Flitter, I noticed a few small differences.  For one thing, his profile is a lot flatter.

You can also see slight differences in the shape of his eyes.  His ears are a bit shorter, and his smile is not as wide as Flitter's.

Next up we have Teeny Genie, the Genie Zelf.

Package Art

Teeny Genie comes with the pamphlet and hair elastics, a pink comb, and a lamp charm.

Back view

Teeny Genie has some great details on her arm, bottom, and right ear:

She has the Pega Sue face mold.

Teeny Genie in profile.

When I first saw Teeny Genie, I thought she'd look almost identical to Pega Sue since they had the same face mold and very similar coloring.  However, as you can see from this picture, they actually are pretty unique from each other.

I think you could have both in your collection and not feel like you had two duplicate Zelfs.  They'd make great cousins or sisters, though. :)

The other new releases for Series 2 are the Masquerade Zelfs.  My mom was able to find Masquerade Flamy, Masquerade Buttershy, and Masquerade Mermalade.

We'll take a look at Flamy first.

Package Art

The Masquerade Zelfs have different packaging than the regular Series 2 Zelfs.  

They also come with a  special "leaflet".

There are only six Masquerade Zelfs:  Buttershy, Vampula, Spellinda, Mermalade, Flamy, and Pega Sue.

Flamy comes with a pamphlet, a pink comb, and a dragon crown.

Back view

A closer look at Flamy's fancy paint details.

Flamy has the Flamy/Mermalade face mold (duh). ;)

Flamy in profile.

Here is Flamy with his crown on.  It widens easily to fit over his hair.

I thought it would be interesting to see regular Flamy and Masquerade Flamy next to one another.  You'll notice that aside from their obvious paint differences, there are also slight differences in their hair color patterns.

Back view

I find I actually prefer the simplicity of regular Flamy's face paint, especially since Masquerade Flamy has almost an 80s rocker look about him (not my favorite look), but both are cute. ;)

Next up, we have Masquerade Buttershy.

Package Art

Buttershy comes with her own Masquerade Leaflet, a pink comb, and a purple and pink butterfly tiara.

Back view

Buttershy with her butterfly tiara on.

The tiara is open in the back and can be pushed open wider to fit over Buttershy's hair.

Buttershy has the Buttershy mold. ;)

Buttershy in profile.

Here's a look at regular Buttershy and Masquerade Buttershy.  Again, there are differences in the hair as well as the point.

Back view

I like both of these versions.  Masquerade Buttershy reminds me of a little kid that got her face painted at the fair. :)

Last, but not least, is adorable Masquerade Mermalade, the other Zelf mom let me keep. :D

Package Art

I decided to keep Masquerade Mermalade in the package, so I just took a few closer pictures of her paint details on her face...

...and body.

Here is as close of a comparison as I could get to regular Mermalade (mine has a few stains on her face) and Masquerade Mermalade.  I can't choose a favorite with these two either.  I like them both. :)

Here is my current Mermalade collection. :)  Since Mermalade is my favorite Zelf besides Miss Clover, I decided to try to collect all of the different versions of Mermalade.  I still need to find the Pearly and Matt Lil' Mermalades, and then I'll have all of the Mermalades made so far. :)

Here are all of the new Zelfies together. :)

I thought it was interesting how much shorter Snap Jack's hair was than all the other Zelfs. :)

Here are the Zelfs my mom is keeping for her collection.  (Notice the slight differences between Flitter and Lochlan's faces?)

And here's most of my current Zelf collection.  There are several more Lil' Zelfs that are interspersed among my AG dolls, and I was too lazy to find them for the photo. ;)

From left to right:  Super Mermalade, Pearly Lil' Elfa, Elfa, Mermalade, Glitter Lil' Mermalade, Glow-in-the-Dark Lil' Mermalade, and Masquerade Mermalade...

...the same Mermalades ;), Flamy, Glitter Lil' Flamy, Snap Jack, NIB Mermalade, Glitter Lil' Pega Sue...

...(Snap Jack, NIB Mermalade and Lil' Pega Sue again), Pega Sue, Buttershy, and Glitter Lil' Buttershy.

I have been a huge fan of the Zelf line ever since I first received Buttershy for a review from Moose Toys.  It is so exciting to see this line expand and continue.  They came up with some really cute new Zelfs for their second series.  They are fun to collect, very affordable, and make quirky conversation pieces. ;)  Kids love them, too.  My three girls are already talking about which of the new Zelfs they would like for their collections. :)

Another fun thing is that there are new Super Zelfs and Lil' Zelfs in the same designs as the new Medium Zelfs I've shared in this post.  There are not Super Zelfs of every Medium Zelf, but there should be Lil' Zelfs of every one. :)  

To see the rest of the new Zelf releases, check out their website HERE. 

If you'd like to see my earlier Zelf reviews, you can click the links below:

Buttershy Medium Zelf

Lil' Zelfs

Mermalade Super Zelf

Lil' Zelfs Green House Tea House 

I'm looking forward to seeing what else they come up with in the future. :)  I'm also hoping to find Kitsu and Dandy Lion for my own collection...and perhaps some of those new Lil' Zelfs, too. ;)

Which of the new Zelfs is your favorite?

P.S.  I apologize for the slightly dark spot in many of these photos...I think there's something on my camera lens that I need to clean off! :}